The Problems with Firewood: by Tom Butzler

Last week was the coldest so far in the late fall/early winter season and as a result, I have been going through more firewood than usual. While sitting around the wood stove the other day enjoying the warmth, I noticed a black carpenter ant crawl out of the wood box onto the concrete floor.

I have had questions in the past on the concern that carpenter ants brought into the house on firewood will result in a nest or infestation. It is a good question, as carpenter ants tunneling and excavating throughout a wooden structure can cause extensive damage. The literature I have read states that carpenter ants brought into the house on firewood are just a nuisance and not cause for concern.


Carpenter ants love wood, not to eat, but to tunnel and create nests. In order to do this, the wood needs to be moist or wet. If firewood had been properly stored, then most of the moisture that is required for these ants has been removed. Even if ants are in the wood brought into the house, the interior atmosphere and is too dry to allow the ants to start a nest. Nuisance or not the ant got squished.

After a long and cold winter several years ago, I ran out of seasoned firewood and burned wood that was not completely seasoned. As a result, my fire wasn’t very hot as most of the energy went toward getting rid of the moisture before combustion could occur. Green wood can contain up to 50 percent moisture while air dried and seasoned wood should contain around 20 percent water.

The easy way to determine if wood if dry enough to burn is an auditory inspection. Pick up two pieces of wood and slam together. If a dull thud is emitted then it is still green but if it is a sharp cracking sound then it is dry.

A more scientific approach to determine water weight is to weigh a small piece of firewood cut from the middle of a large piece. Record the weight in ounces. Dry the small piece several hours at 200 to 300 °F in your oven and weigh it again. The difference in weight is the weight of the water in the wood (step 1). Divide the weight of the water by the oven-dry weight of the wood to find the moisture content of your firewood (step 2).

In reality, in order to get good dry wood for the 2012-2013 burning season, one should be spending much of their time outside the next couple of months cutting and splitting wood.